EMV: A Roadmap and Guidebook for the U.S. Market

EMV: A Roadmap and Guidebook for the U.S. Market

Boston, June 27, 2013 - EMV is coming! EMV is coming! EMV is finally coming to the United States, and it represents a significant evolution for the U.S. payments infrastructure and the end of the country's long reliance on the antiquated, easy-to-counterfeit mag stripe. EMV specifications create a framework for interoperable chip-based payment cards that significantly reduce the risk of counterfeit card use at the point of sale. This technology has effectively decreased counterfeit card fraud across the globe, and its U.S. rollout will enhance interoperability for global travelers and increase the security of U.S. payments. As the final G-20 country to embrace EMV, the United States should look to the U.K. for lessons learned about fraud migration and the benefits of EMV.

Based on Aite Group interviews with executives at 15 of the U.S. top 40 issuers by purchase volume, this Impact Report by Julie Conroy, retail banking research director at Aite Group, examines the trajectory of U.S. EMV migration; charts issuers' deployment timelines, cardholder verification methods, and ATM upgrade plans; and details issuers' existing efforts around international travel. The piece also provides a series of lessons for U.S. issuers based on the experiences of FIs in the U.K. and Canada. This report is the first in a two-part series about the arrival of EMV in the United States.